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At Eleven, we share the common vision of our kids living in a healthier environment, encourage them to practise sports, and invest a lot of time in this. However, scheduling and paying for sports activities can be a nightmare. Can you imagine how many apps, chats, and channels you need to manage simultaneously to schedule a football training session? What is more, most of the sports clubs are cash only, on occasion some accept bank transfers, only a small portion operate with card payments (mainly on-site), and a tiny fraction of all card payments are accepted online – resulting in loss of time, money, and engagement.
This is why we fell in love with myTeam – a B2B SaaS ecosystem providing a single platform for the administrative staff, coaches, and parents to effectively plan, communicate, pay, and get paid when it comes to sport activities. MyTeam helps sport clubs to optimize their daily operations, while at the same time it allows the athletes (and their parents) to stay up to date with all aspects of their sports life.
The main enabler here is the fintech component, but what makes the overall experience great is that it becomes something beyond the obvious – fintech becomes an enhancer. It allows the parents to be in control and enjoy the ride, while sport clubs have cash predictability, better fund collection, and money management. A startup, originally pitched as a sportstech company, is now able to digitize a whole industry and create frictionless user journeys for all shareholders using a fintech layer.
Why fintech matters for growth
The integration of financial services, such as payments, lending, and banking into a product is more than just a trend – it’s a strategic move that can revolutionize the user experience and foster customer loyalty. By seamlessly embedding fintech capabilities into existing platforms, companies can own the whole customer journey end-to-end, as well as drive higher engagement and retention rates among their user base. Moreover, fintech doesn’t merely enhance existing offerings, it opens up entirely new revenue streams. Transaction fees, interest, interchange, and other monetization models have the potential to significantly boost profit margins. Additionally, embedding third-party fintech solutions grants startups access to new customers and valuable data, creating opportunities for better product development and innovation.
From sportstech to fintech: myTeam’s journey
Fintech has been instrumental to myTeam’s growth and ability to scale. By integrating payment processing and financial analytics tools into the platform, the team is now able to offer a smooth and hassle-free payment experience for sports clubs and their members. As a result, myTeam’s clients benefit from a secure and efficient payment processing solution, saving them time, reducing errors, and streamlining financial operations. This empowers sports clubs to focus on their core activities and deliver an enhanced experience to their members.
“Specifically, we've introduced club donation processing and subscription management solutions, thanks to fintech partners. This has diversified our revenue beyond just subscription fees for the usage of the platform. These new digital financial products are increasing not only revenues for myTeam but more importantly those of sports clubs, as well.”
Dimitris Sereleas
Co-founder and CEO of myTeam
For myTeam’s customers, fintech integration has led to real-time visibility into their finances, helping streamline accounting, cash flow, and provide data to make smarter decisions. Club administrators can instantly collect payments, manage budgets, and track revenue in one integrated platform. The ability to accept donations digitally has also been a huge win.
"The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with club owners telling us the financial management capabilities have saved them time while providing complete visibility. We had a case of a cricket club manager who was skeptical when we initially contacted him, but since he started using the online payments and donations modules he started promoting our service to his whole network."
Dimitris Sereleas
Co-founder and CEO of myTeam
Looking ahead, Dimitris believes that embedded finance and open banking will shape myTeam’s future and become a key differentiator. He is eager to leverage open APIs to bring synced bank account data and new financial tools like lending right into myTeam. Last but not least, he strongly believes that customised services, e.g insurance plan for sports activities, for the sports sector will also play a key role in the future of the company.
MyTeam’s advice on leveraging fintech
Dimitris’ advice to startups is to view fintech as a true catalyst, not just a back-office function. For him, deep fintech integration can unlock new products and revenue channels, while also improving customer experience. Although it’s important to always do it without leaving behind the core product offering. He also highlights the importance of partnerships and advises early-stage startups to focus on allying with both established and emerging fintech players.
“For us it has been crucial to stay on the cutting edge. Those relationships drive innovation and growth at the same time.”
Dimitris Sereleas
Co-founder and CEO of myTeam
As the lines between technology and finance continue to blur, we believe that the future of fintech is deeply woven into the fabric of every startup. And as embedded finance gains momentum, it’s evident that the next wave of successful startups will be those that recognize and harness its immense potential.
Are you ready to turn your startup into a fintech powerhouse? Reach out and join our #fintech portfolio.
